what can I do that's fun?!!

sparkychris

Evening investment team...
I completely thick when it comes to savings and investments so bear with me!
I have a few grand as a safety net in case anything awful was to happen but also have a couple of grand to play with... My safety net is tucked away in an isa, and my spare is in my current account. Is there anything I can do which is simple and interesting I can do with about £2000.
I have a little bit in funding circle which was interesting enough for a few weeks but that's now tied up for a few years... Have looked at shares but that looks like a long term thing with so many fees attached, it just doesn't look worthwhile...

Any ideas would be welcome...but please speak to me like I'm daft as investments bewilder me entirely!

Archi_Bald

The 'best fun' thing to do with any money up to about £10K is playing the current account game, i.e. find the best interest paying current accounts and use all their features to your advantage.

Anything more, you should be looking at either an S&S ISA, or increasing your pension contributions or a combination of the two.

P2P lending can presently not be put into an ISA although this is meant to change next financial year.

"S&S" doesn't mean you need to invest in shares - you can spread your risk and invest in funds, which most investors do. Though you are right, investing is not a short term project. If you are thinking of less than 5 years, you should stick to cash.

But you will get older like everyone else, and you have to think about what you will be living from once you stop work. Usually referred to as a pension. It might not sound like fun saving in a pension, but being able to comfortably live in your later days will be fun, I can assure you.

I don't mean to say you shouldn't live for the moment, too - go and travel a bit, the memories will stay with you forever. But don't blow all your money on the short term.

ellahenderson

buy a candy store =D thats a fun loving business

kidmugsy

Buy some gold sovereigns. Don't put them in a safety deposit: keep them hidden in the house and once a month take them out, admire them, run them through your fingers, and talk like a pirate.

sparkychris

Am already older like everyone else... I'm nearly 40! But as I have spent most of my adult life up to my neck in debt I have never had to worry about the long term... Now I am debt free I don't know what to do with all the money I used to spend on loan/credit card (etc) payments. Also, I am self employed so having all of my money tied up for ten years(or whatever) scares the life out of me...
I asked about s and s isas before on here and it got very comp!icated very quickly so I just ran off and hid with my chickens...
If someone told me a simple s and s isa I could park my funds in I would do so...
Someone mentioned 'fidelity' to me (on this site)so I set up something then got shouted at for 'pi££ing my money up the wall'
Can't win!

chucknorris

kidmugsy wrote: »

Buy some gold sovereigns. Don't put them in a safety deposit: keep them hidden in the house and once a month take them out, admire them, run them through your fingers, and talk like a pirate.

This might come in handy:


http://www.talklikeapirate.com/translator.html

sparkychris

kidmugsy wrote: »

Buy some gold sovereigns. Don't put them in a safety deposit: keep them hidden in the house and once a month take them out, admire them, run them through your fingers, and talk like a pirate.

This has absolutely occurred to me and is looking quite likely.

Arrrrrrr, Jim lad

chucknorris

sparkychris wrote: »

This has absolutely occurred to me and is looking quite likely.

Arrrrrrr, Jim lad

thems that dies i'll be t' lucky ones (from the pirate translator a couple of posts above).

chucknorris

sparkychris wrote: »

Am already older like everyone else... I'm nearly 40!

You'll probably be dead soon then, don't invest in a season ticket.

sparkychris

chucknorris wrote: »

You'll probably be dead soon then, don't invest in a season ticket.

Am almost sure I will be... But on the off chance that I must struggle on and unfortunately manage to avoid the comforting embrace of death, I just wondered how I might pay for the desperate nurse who has the misfortune to be contractually obliged to come to my cold damp hovel, clean up my dribble, empty my week old pants and tolerate my vitriol...

Archi_Bald

sparkychris wrote: »

If someone told me a simple s and s isa I could park my funds in I would do so...

OK, go for Charles Stanley with Vanguard Lifestrategy 80%. Or may be 100%. But most definitely not any S&S ISA from Virgin or from a bank, or any other packaged ISA.

Though you would be slightly mad to follow this suggestion without scrutinizing it first, you might find it not too far off the mark after you spent some time on http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/, to understand what a balanced portfolio is, what funds you could select for it, and which platform would be best for it.

At 40, you still got a good 20 years at least to make some money for your later years. Clock is ticking though, don't be flippant about it. You don't want to be reliant on just the state pension, and you don't want to work yourself into your grave. It's not doom and gloom, just reality.